Bill Gates: Apple May Need To Make Hybrid Tablet - like Microsoft Surface

Former Microsoft CEO and all-round good egg Bill Gates has spoken up in support of the Microsoft Surface tablet, saying that Apple may need to change its approach in order to compete.

Gates says that the benefit of the Surface is that "You don't have to make a compromise. You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way people look at things." When asked whether Apple would have to change its tablet strategy in response, Gates said there is a "strong possibility" it would, in order to compete with the "exciting" form of the Microsoft tablet.

These words come from an interview with Charlie Rose during his PBS TV show. In true form, though, Gates was far from "down" on the Apple empire. He admitted that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs "did some things better and I did", saying that Apple's tablets have historically been much thinner and more attractive than Microsoft's.

(Image credit: CNET)

What's all the fuss about the Microsoft Surface about? It provides the traditional tablet experience, plus an unusually discreet - but still fully-physical - keyboard. It flips out much like the Apple Smart Cover, protecting the screen when not in use. Apple used to offer a desktop keyboard dock for the iPad, but it was discontinued following the release of the iPad 2.

The Microsoft Surface tablet's release date has not been announced, but we do know it'll come in two main forms - a cheaper ARM CPU-based model and one using Intel's chips.